THE COLLECTIVE INSPIRATION CHALLENGE

One day as I was scrolling through the FSC photostream, I was thinking about what a wonderful variety of styles, genres, themes, and subjects I was seeing.  It also happened to be one of those unfortunately frequent periods when I was finding myself stuck in a rut -- or the Blah Spiral, as I call it.  I wasn't thrilled about anything I was shooting, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to shoot, and while I wanted more than anything to just pick up my camera, I needed A Reason to get me going.  So I thought about how comfort zones led to ruts.  And how I was *always* inspired by the people and amazing work I see on FSC.  And then I thought:  CHALLENGE.  And immediately messaged Amy and Cameron to see what they thought.

The concept is simple -- we will pair up two people and ask each to pick one to three shots that they feel exemplify who they are and what they do as a film shooter.  They will then write a brief artist's statement explaining their work.  Then the pictures and statements are shared with the other shooter.  Because we have had so much interest, we will be picking two duos each time.  

The Challenge is to be inspired by the other shooter's work.  You can interpret this however you wish.  If they are of a different genre, you can try that genre.  Or style.  Or subject. Or you can interpret their work through your own aesthetic.  Simply put -- be INSPIRED.  Do something new. Then shoot.  Write another brief statement about your inspiration, methods, and result and pick your best shot (though feel free to send a few more, we would love to share them).  If you are a FSC member, will we have you put these into a draft blog post; if not, you can send me the text and pictures and I will put it up for you.  Once everything is ready, we will go live and feature you and the results here.  

Because we believe in putting our money (and film) where our mouths are, Amy and I have gone first to show you all one way it can be done. We will be posting our results soon.  And announcing the next inspiration duos! So stay tuned...